Philadelphia is full to bursting with fantastic museums. You will never be bored in the city because, no matter what your interests are, you can find a museum for you where you can waste away an entire day in happiness.

Even better, many of them are in the same general area, letting you museum hop between them all.

So, after pulling myself away out of the Jurassic and a hop-skip-and-a-jump later, I found myself at the Rodin Museum.

Rodin was an artist who’s name I was familiar with but wouldn’t be able to pick out his art from anything so I figured this was a perfect opportunity to see what the hype was all about.

The museum has a very European feel.

You first pass a massive sentry who determines whether you’re worthy to enter, through an entryway into a large courtyard and then up into the museum.

As you walk up the stairway to the doors, you’re met with one of Rodin’s most famous works: The Gates of Hell.

The Gates took him 37 years to create (can you imagine working on something for 37 years?).

They were originally inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy but as he continued to work on it, it stopped becoming a representation of that and became a depiction of universal human emotions.

The narrative is of a chaotic world filled with over 200 people suffering from pain and despair.

The original doors were a plaster model but were cast in bronze for the museum in the 1920’s.

The museum is on the smaller side. There is a main room with a few smaller rooms branching off in the corners but it’s not sparse by any means.

There are around 140 sculptures in bronze, marble and plaster. The first I saw was of Victor Hugo who just happens to be one of my very favorite authors.

I think what makes Rodin so amazing is his ability to capture and freeze emotions – something I think many artists attempt but few succeed.

After seeing every inch of the museum, I exited into the bright sunshine once again, took a stroll around the courtyard and headed off for one last museum.

What do you think of Rodin? I think with artists people either love them or hate them. I loved Rodin but I definitely think his work is some you need to see in person. What do you think?